RIO DE JANEIRO – The Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro will hire former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani as a security advisor for the 2016 Olympic Games in this city, Gov. Sergio Cabral said Thursday.

“I’m going to hire him to strengthen our public security work ... He’s going to help us in day-to-day security and, especially, with an eye toward the (2010) World Military Games and the Olympic Games,” Cabral said after eating lunch on Thursday with the former U.S. politician.

Giuliani on Thursday met with different officials in Rio de Janeiro, where he defended the “zero tolerance” policy that he implemented in the 1990s to combat crime in New York.

In his meeting with Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes, Giuliani spoke about the possibility of implementing zero tolerance here in the state capital, where shootouts between police and drug dealers are common.

Giuliani recalled that in New York he confronted a similar situation and it took six to seven years before results began to be noted.

The former New York mayor praised the policy of invading poverty-stricken “favelas,” or shantytowns, dominated by drug trafficking gangs with police “pacification” brigades, operations which have produced violent armed clashes.

“You are doing a fabulous job,” he said during a speech to police officers.

In October, a wave of drug violence resulted in at least 40 murders in the city, including three policemen who were flying in a helicopter that was shot down by the criminals. EFE

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